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It is certain that high levels of aspartame use, above 2 liters daily
for months and years, must lead to chronic formaldehyde-formic acid
toxicity, since 11% of aspartame (1,120 mg in 2L diet soda, 5.6 12-oz
cans) is 123 mg methanol (wood alcohol), immediately released into the
body after drinking (unlike the large levels of methanol locked up in
molecules inside many fruits), then quickly transformed into
formaldehyde, which in turn becomes formic acid, both of which in
time become carbon dioxide and water-- however, about 30% of the
methanol remains in the body as cumulative durable toxic metabolites of
formaldehyde and formic acid-- 37 mg daily, a gram every month.
If 10% of the methanol is retained as formaldehyde, that would give 12
mg daily formaldehyde accumulation, about 60 times more than the 0.2 mg
from 10% retention of the 2 mg EPA daily limit for formaldehyde in
drinking water.

Bear in mind that the EPA limit for formaldehyde in
drinking water is 1 ppm,
or 2 mg daily for a typical daily consumption of 2 L of water.

This long-term low-level chronic toxic exposure leads to typical
patterns of increasingly severe complex symptoms, starting with
headache, fatigue, joint pain, irritability, memory loss, and leading to
vision and eye problems and even seizures. In many cases there is
addiction. Probably there are immune system disorders, with a
hypersensitivity to these toxins and other chemicals.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/782
RTM: Smith, Terpening, Schmidt, Gums:
full text: aspartame, MSG, fibromyalgia 1.17.2 rmforall
Jerry D Smith, Chris M Terpening, Siegfried OF Schmidt, and John G Gums
Relief of Fibromyalgia Symptoms Following
Discontinuation of Dietary Excitotoxins.
The Annals of Pharmacotherapy 2001; 35(6): 702706.
Malcolm Randall Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Gainesville, FL, USA.
BACKGROUND: Fibromyalgia is a common rheumatologic disorder that is
often difficult to treat effectively.
CASE SUMMARY: Four patients diagnosed with fibromyalgia syndrome
for two to 17 years are described.
All had undergone multiple treatment
modalities with limited success. All had complete, or nearly complete,
resolution of their symptoms within months after eliminating monosodium
glutamate (MSG) or MSG plus aspartame from their diet.
All patients were women with multiple comorbidities
prior to elimination of MSG.
All have had recurrence of symptoms whenever MSG is ingested.

Debbie J. Hypes painfreeliving@aol.com 304-872-4141 (Case # 1 of 4)
P.O Box 25 Lookout, WV 25868-0025 She has about 1,000 on her local
mailing list, and has been a volunteer activist since 1997. Her guide
first came out in 1997: http://www.Pain-Free-Living.net
"The Food Plan: How To Do It" $ 5 by mail, free by email.
Her sister Darlene, now 47, cured her own severe fibromyalgia in 1995
by using an elimination diet, and then Debbie also cured herself by
1997. Their doctor, Siegfried Schmidt, paying attention, tried it on
two selected women, who got well, and are his third and fourth cases.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/864
Murray: Butchko, Tephly, McMartin: Alemany: aspartame formaldehyde
adducts in rats 9.8.2 rmforall
Prof. Alemany vigorously affirms the validity of the Trocho study
against criticism:
Butchko, HH et al [24 authors], Aspartame: review of safety.
Regul. Toxicol. Pharmacol. 2002 April 1; 35 (2 Pt 2): S1-93, review
available for $35, [an industry paid organ]. Butchko:
"When all the research on aspartame, including evaluations in both the
premarketing and postmarketing periods, is examined as a whole, it is
clear that aspartame is safe, and there are no unresolved questions
regarding its safety under conditions of intended use."
[They repeatedly pass on the ageless industry deceit that the methanol
in fruits and vegetables is as as biochemically available as that in
aspartame-- see the 1984 rebuttal by Monte, below.]

J. Nutrition 1973 Oct; 103(10): 1454-1459.
Metabolism of aspartame in monkeys.
Oppermann JA, Muldoon E, Ranney RE.
Dept. of Biochemistry, Searle Laboratories,
Division of G.D. Searle and Co. Box 5110, Chicago, IL 60680
They found that about 70% of the radioactive methanol in aspartame put
into the stomachs of 3 to 7 kg monkeys was eliminated within a day as
carbon dioxide in exhaled air and as water in the urine. They did not
mention that this meant that about 30% of the methanol must transform
into formaldehyde and then into formic acid, much of which must remain
as toxic products in all parts of the body. They did not report any
studies on the distribution of radioactivity in body tissues, except
that blood plasma proteins after 4 days held 4% of the initial
methanol. This study did not monitor long-term use of aspartame.

"Fruit and vegetables contain pectin with variable methyl ester
content. However, the human has no digestive enzymes for pectin (6, 25)
particularly the pectin esterase required
for its hydrolysis to methanol (26).

Fermentation in the gut may cause disappearance of pectin (6) but the
production of free methanol is not guaranteed by fermentation (3). In
fact, bacteria in the colon probably reduce methanol directly to formic
acid or carbon dioxide (6) (aspartame is completely absorbed before
reaching the colon). Heating of pectins has been shown to cause
virtually no demethoxylation; even temperatures of 120 deg C produced
only traces of methanol (3). Methanol evolved during cooking of high
pectin foods (7) has been accounted for in the volatile fraction during
boiling and is quickly lost to the atmosphere (49).
Entrapment of these volatiles probably accounts for the elevation in
methanol levels of certain fruit and vegetable products
during canning (31, 33)."

Recent research [see links at end of post] supports his focus on the
methanol to formaldehyde toxic process:

"The United States Environmental Protection Agency in their Multimedia
Environmental Goals for Environmental Assessment recommends a minimum
acute toxicity concentration of methanol in drinking water at 3.9 parts
per million, with a recommended limit of consumption below 7.8 mg/day
(8). This report clearly indicates that methanol:

"is considered a cumulative poison
due to the low rate of excretion once it is absorbed.
In the body, methanol is oxidized to formaldehyde and
formic acid; both of these metabolites are toxic." (8)....

Recently the toxic role of formaldehyde (in methanol toxicity) has been
questioned (34). No skeptic can overlook the fact that, metabolically,
formaldehyde must be formed as an intermediate to formic acid
production (54).

Formaldehyde has a high reactivity which may be why it
has not been found in humans or other primates during methanol
poisioning (59)....

If formaldehyde is produced from methanol and does have a reasonable
half life within certain cells in the poisoned organism the chronic
toxicological ramifications could be grave.

Formaldehyde is a known
carcinogen (57) producing squamous-cell carcinomas by inhalation
exposure in experimental animals (22). The available epidemiological
studies do not provide adequate data for assessing the carcinogenicity
of formaldehyde in man (22, 24, 57).

However, reaction of formaldehyde
with deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) has resulted in irreversible
denaturation that could interfere with DNA replication and result in
mutation (37)...."

http://www.dorway.com/barua.html
Dr. J. Barua (ophthalmic surgeon), Dr. Arun Bal (surgeon)
Emerging facts about aspartame.
Journal Of The Diabetic Association Of India 1995; 35 (4):
(79 references) barua@giasbm01.vsnl.net.in
"...the total amount of methanol absorbed will be approximately
10% of aspartame ingested. An EPA assessment of methanol states
that methanol, 'is considered a cumulative poison due to the low rate
of excretion once it is absorbed. The absorbed methanol is then
slowly converted to formaldehyde...'"
"Reaction of formaldehyde with DNA has been observed,
by spectrophotometry and electron microscopy, to result in
irreversible denaturation."
"DKP has been implicated in the occurence of brain tumors."

"Survey of aspartame studies: correlation of outcome and funding
sources," 1998, unpublished: http://www.dorway.com/peerrev.html
Walton found 166 separate published studies in the peer reviewed
medical literature, which had relevance for questions of human safety.
The 74 studies funded by industry all (100%) attested to aspartame's
safety, whereas of the 92 non-industry funded studies, 84 (91%)
identified a problem. Six of the seven non-industry funded studies
that were favorable to aspartame safety were from the FDA, which
has a public record that shows a strong pro-industry bias.
Ralph G. Walton, MD, Prof. of Clinical Psychology, Northeastern Ohio
Universities, College of Medicine, Dept. of Psychiatry, Youngstown,
OH 44501, Chairman, The Center for Behavioral Medicine,
Northside Medical Center, 500 Gypsy Lane, P.O. Box 240 Youngstown,
OH 44501 330-740-3621 rwalton193@aol.comhttp://www.neoucom.edu/DEPTS/Psychiatry/walton.htm

The snopes link actually links you to official sources, like the FDA. Besides, why did you did this thread up from the grave, anyway?

Artificial sweeteners and another man-made products, like medications, textiles, and so on have been important and necessary for many people to live a normal life. Why shouldn't a diabetic be able to enjoy a soda like the next guy?

Science and medicine, like any other thing developed by man, are imperfect. We look back now and laugh about the belief that drilling a hole in one's head to let the demons escape would cure certain illnesses, but they truly believed it back then. With science, it is important to keep testing, keep researching, keep learning from mistakes made in the past to cure disease, improve lives, and keep us as healthy as possible. Sweeteners, like medications, diets, and whatnot, are not all one size fits all. Everyone's body is unique, and we all don't react to things in the same way. That is why there are options. Current scientific research finds no danger in the consumption of aspartame as a non-nutritive sweetener, and it has been one of the most tested and researched of all the artificial sweeteners.

I'm just thankful we live in a country where there are so many options. I've seen the look on people's faces shopping in our grocery stores from less-fortunate countries - they are amazed at the selection. Imagine seeing hundreds of choices in the bread aisle, or in the cheese section, when back home, you'd be lucky to just see any bread or cheese on the shelf.

A little open-mindedness goes a long way.

Now, can we let this thread die? Or at least move it to the appropriate board?